AU Looks to Boost Vaccine Manufacturing Capabilities

Apr 17 , 2021


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The African Union (AU) Commission signaled its intent to see the continent's capacity to manufacture vaccines against the COVID-19, signing a memorandum of understanding with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) last week. Currently, only two percent of vaccine trials take place in Africa. The partnership aims to strengthen ties between the two organisations and the Africa CDC - a specialised institution in the continent responsible for preventing and controlling diseases in Africa. The AU wants CDC Africa to enhance research and development in vaccine manufacturing, and strengthen pandemic preparedness on the continent. In early 2020, Ethiopia became the first African country to join CEPI, which was first established at Davos in 2017 to develop vaccines against future epidemics.


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